Here are some interesting images from the “backstage” as the stealth bomber was refueling mid-air from a KC-10 Extender from Travis Air Force Base: although part of its flight took the aircraft above Pasadena, the B-2 bomber was involved in a standard long-range training sortie that included AAR (Air-to-Air Refueling).

The photograph below clearly shows the Spirit’s rotating dorsal receptacle: once the refueling has finished the fuel intake required to connect with the tanker’s flying boom, rotates and hides itself into the fuselage to avoid an RCS “hotspot” that would affect the B-2 stealthiness.

Related

The last picture… Do you imagine Rambo downing the B-2, spraying that flat surface with his M60 machine gun from the tanker? That would be epic! The B-2 spiraling down leaking inflamed hydraulics, then breaking in two-three parts, crew ejecting and then the main chunk exploding in bits. Maybe in the next Rambo movie?

FlyingBarrister

Imagine the first time the young airmen in the tankers outside the R&D program saw a new B-2 bomber approaching for a top off. It would have been a heckuva sight.

Socials

Categories

Categories

The Aviationist patch

Send me an email if you want to support this site buying the original TheAviationist.com patch, only available through this website!

This website makes use of cookies, both proprietary or by third part, in order to improve your browsing experience. For more information check our cookies policy.
By closing this message, proceed surfing or using this website, you accept to use cookies. Don’t show this again